Ohio State Fair Midway 2008

Cobra:Paratrooper::Scat:Round-Up
Furthermore, from what I saw today...
Viper:Cobra::Re-Weld::Orbiter

I don't get what you mean by these.

I rode the Viper the other day- it was ok. It would be a lot better if the cars swung out like the Cobra did. It would be more thrilling, and less painful. The idea behind the Viper was to update the classic ride with efficient, simultanous loading. While a beautiful ride, I'm afraid they missed the mark.

Spinout--

(aside from the fact that the second one should have been "Viper:Cobra::Re-Weld:Orbiter")

I guess they don't do analogies on the standardized tests anymore.

A Cobra compares to a Paratrooper as a Scat compares to a Round-Up. That is to say, a Scat is basically two small Round-Ups mounted on opposite ends of a rotating beam, therefore a Cobra is essentially two small Paratroopers mounted on opposite ends of a rotating beam.

The Viper was not operating the day I visited, but from its general appearance, it looked like the Viper compares to a Cobra in the same way that the Re-Mix (aka Re-Weld) compares to an Orbiter...that is, they took the same basic ride concept and screwed it up by putting shoulder bars on it, and in the case of the Viper, apparently also fiddling with the U-joint that the cars are attached to.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

As promised, Ohio State Fair midway photos are now available HERE on MY SITE.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I went on the Wisconsin Wisdom Viper. I have never been on the Cobra ride, but to me the Wisdom Viper just feels like a Zierer Wave Swinger, but lower to the ground. It's nothing great in my opinion. It's definitely in my opinion not a thrill ride.

^ I didn't get how you compared a Paratrooper to a Cobra. I thought you were talking about the ride experience. I also didn't get the Re-Weld thing. I don't know if you know this, but I only get 2 Ohio State pictures to see. Maybe, you only have 2. I don't know??

^ In terms of the re-weld.. I think he means that they basically took an orbitor, and re-welded the seat configuration so they are inverted and basically turning a great ride into something mediocre.

The Cobra has a Paratrooper quality to it because on the Cobra, the seats fly out, look and act like little paratroopers:

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index/VentureCobra1.jpg

I went to the fair on Sunday, and honestly, even though there were a few different pices this year, I was a bit disappointed in the midway. It did seem a little bit thinner this year and A of A was missing some long-time pieces. The spinout obviously, but the Ring of Fire and Flying Bobs was missing (i dont care for either ride, though.. but the Rok N Roll Matterhorn is a much better piece), there was a different Cliffhanger and we seemed to be short about 3 funhouses/dark rides. We also were missing a Magic Carpet type ride or even a round-up, and mentioned before.. the Scrambler.

It was really a bummer to have the Viper down. There was a ton of stuff on the ground below it - what looked like kitty-litter - I heard it blew a hydrolic line - not sure the truth to that.

I rode the Heartbreaker.. I didn't care much for it. I dont like rides that put too many forces on your chest.

I wonder if im starting to get burned out of the Carnival ride scene. I don't seem to enjoy as many as i used to and I wound up skipping quite a few rides this time. My mom said to me that once she turned 30, she started to not enjoy the spinny rides as much... Im 34 now... I hope I don't inherit that trait!

Now let me vent.... why does the Yo Yo have a 175 lb. weight limit??? What full-sized american male weighs 175 pounds nowadays anyways?

Spinout, there are 110 photos on that page. The gallery uses JavaScript to build itself. Also, because of the navigation tabs on the page, your computer will explode if you try to access the page with Internet Explorer. What browser are you trying to use? I had someone else tell me she had the same problem, but I was not able to reproduce it with any of my equipment.

John, since you asked...
A reading from the World Standard for the Design of Amusement Rides and Devices, ASTM F 2291-06a, the eighth chapter, beginning with the sixth verse:

ASTM F 2291:8.6 Patron Weights
8.6.1 The weight assigned to an adult patron, for design purposes, shall be 170 lb or 0.75 kN.

8.6.8 As a nonfatigue dynamic case, amusement rides and devices shall be designed for occasional full or partial payloads of large adult patrons weighing 300 lb per seat or an appropriate lesser amount if patrons are limited by the size of the seat or restraint or both. This means that if an adult patron weighing 300 lb cannot fit into an amusement ride or device due to limitations with the size of the seat or restraint or both, then the amusement ride or device does not have to be designed to accommodate for occasional full or partial payloads of large adult patrons weighing 300 lb per seat. In this case, the amusement ride or device shall be designed to accommodate occasional full or partial payload of the heaviest adult patrons that the amusement ride or device can physically accommodate.

8.6.8.1 Section 8.6.8 is for calculation purposes only and shall not be interpreted as a requirement for the operation of the amusement ride or device. In addition, 8.6.8 shall apply to elastic deflection and permanent deformation load calculations only.

Here ends the reading.

The operational specifications for the Chance Yo-Yo have changed over the years. Prior to the adoption of ASTM F 2291, the rider specification was, "170 pounds". Later, the guideline changed to "Average of 170 pounds per seat if properly restrained." I also recall some standard somewhere that specified that the patron weight should be the greater of 170 pounds or 12 pounds per inch of width at the hip. Given that the seat on a Yo-Yo is 20" wide, that suggests a minimum weight restriction of 240 pounds. I don't know where that figure came from; it might have been the old F 1159 standard.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Yes, I had IE. Firefox is working fine. Was the Yo-Yo tiliting good. I think the best way to say whether a Yo-Yo tilts good is that the seats aren't in back of each other during the ride when it tilts. It's like this video (tilting good): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmEcI5HJVy8&NR=1

How was the Mondial Heartbreaker, and did they give long rides on the Zipper, or not?

Thanks for taking pictures, and sharing them. *** Edited 8/6/2008 7:45:47 PM UTC by Spinout***

The Yo-Yo was NOT tilting. :( Operator made some crack about the generator. Which, by the way, was a huge surprise: why is the midway powered with generators instead of from "shore power"? With diesel fuel as expensive as it is around here, I'd think it would be cheaper to tie into the local utilities!

Can't speak for the other stuff. I didn't actually do any riding, just some picture taking.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(now I gotta go see why my gallery doesn't seem to work in IE. Not that it matters, given that the navigation tabs already don't work in IE so the page is already screwed up for those users...)

If something goes bad on a YoYo it seems to always be the tilt. Shame, because that's where the ride gets it's action. (I like the chairs that sit suspended from the arm itself, not the ones between the arms.)

All rides at the fair seem to have decent ride cycles, on the long side. I noticed the Zipper one day was giving forward and reverse rides. Space Roller is nice and long, too. We're expecting a gorgeous weekend and crowds will be big. (Last weekend was really good, too) On busy days the cycle times are shorter.

AofA's Banzai is running really well this year, nice and fast. It must've had some attention. The Rock and Roll Music Express is speedy, too. It's one of the best traveling pieces of it's type, IMO.

To me, when the Yo-Yo tilts it's becomes a thrilling ride. Otherwise, it doesn't do nothing but go in a circle. The seats don't even swing out either like the Swinger. It's just boring. Don't go to a Six Flags park expecting it to tilt.